Insatiable
by Silver Hyacinth
Summary: When Yukine starts at a new school, he hopes to escape the bullying that has been plaguing him since elementary school. At first, everything seems to be going well: That is, until he meets Yato Kamiya, the resident bad-boy who seems to have an odd fascination with him—and plans to make his life miserable. — Yatone. High School AU.
1. Yukine - 1

**01**

 **Yukine**

* * *

High school had always been hard for Yukine. Not because he was stupid—he was actually very smart. It was because he was what most would call 'weird.' Not in the 'sniffs people and kidnaps babies' way, but in the 'sits alone and never talks to anyone' way.

People usually wrote him off a loner and a nerd, and they either ignored him completely or started bullying him...

Usually, it was the latter.

Which was why he was switching schools. For the third time in a year.

But the new one was going to be different. He was allowed to choose his own school, for once, and he'd made sure that it was as far away as possible from the previous ones. He had to take two trains to get there, but it was worth it for a fresh start.

Yukine had carefully planned out everything, even his introductory speech. He was going to be upbeat and outgoing—and for once, he'd definitely make friends.

At least, that's what he was _hoping_.

He'd thought it would be a lot easier than it really was. Standing in front of the classroom door, it felt a lot _less_ exciting and a lot _more_ like he was going to puke.

Then again, sometimes that was a form of excitement, right? But usually, you didn't feel a crippling anxiety along with excitement...

 _You need to stay positive,_ he scolded himself, fingers tightening on the straps of his bag as he forced himself to take deep breaths. It would suck to have to switch schools again, and he was running out of new ones, anyway. _You can do it, Yukine. Get ready. Make sure you smile. Smiling is the most important part._

That advice didn't really help him all that much. It took all of the courage in his body just to push open the door and step into the classroom. As soon as he did, the chatter of the students stopped and they all turned to stare at him.

 _Great..._ Yukine skillfully avoided eye contact and shuffled to the teacher's desk. He turned to greet him, the classic glasses-and-suit-wearing, smiling, I-want-to-help-you teacher.

 _Ugh. Be nice, be nice, be nice... This is harder than I thought._

"You must be our new addition!" Yukine's hand was shaken with far too much enthusiasm. "I'm Mr. Kazuma. Welcome to our class!" He turned to his students, forcing Yukine to move with him. "Class, this is our new transfer student. Please give him a warm welcome." He smiled. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

 _Here it goes. Smile._

"Hello, everyone." Yukine's face fell into a well-practiced smile as he waved to his new classmates. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Kaji Yukine."

 _Good enough. Cut it off now. Don't tell them anything else._

He bowed to hide the sweat forming on his brow. "Please take care of me. I look forward to getting along with all of you."

"Excellent!" The teacher clapped his hands together as Yukine straightened up, relieved that his introduction had gone well. "Kaji-kun, you can take the empty seat over there, beside Kamiya."

"Thank you, sensei."

Following his pointed finger, Yukine felt like he'd slammed into a brick wall, stopping mid-step as he locked gazes with a pair of intense ice-blue eyes.

* * *

When Yukine was a child, a boy had saved him.

He was in elementary school, still at the age where he didn't know how terrible the world could be. Things that were dangerous utterly escaped him.

He remembered the day it happened like it was only yesterday… It was lunch, and he'd had gone out to eat under a tree; the same tree he ate underneath every day back then. He hummed to himself quietly, smiling and eating the bento his mother had carefully packed for him that morning. It was a normal, perfect day.

Then, everything went wrong.

Something hard smacked him in the back of the head and Yukine fell, dropping his lunch and spilling rice across the grass. His head hadn't even stopped spinning when someone grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, a foot pressing into the side of his head.

He remembered crying and screaming for help, but there was no one nearby to hear.

Someone ripped off his jacket and searched the pockets while Yukine was still being held down, sobbing in terror. They threw it on the ground with a growl when the jacket yielded nothing and searched the rest of his clothes and his bag, but he had nothing except his school supplies.

Yukine could remember saying something—maybe begged them to let him go. Whatever it was, it made them mad, and the next thing he knew, he was standing up again, hands wrapped around his neck, holding him up and strangling the air out of his lungs.

What losers would rob an elementary school kid? Well, when you're desperate enough, you'll do anything. And he guessed they didn't like the fact that their last resort had no money. He was almost killed. (Keyword; almost. That was when the boy came in.)

In a flash of black, Yukine was on the ground, trembling but breathing, and he caught a glimpse of something beautiful.

He was like a wild animal, a whirlwind of ebony hair and eyes like icy blue fire.

Somehow, even though he couldn't have been much older than Yukine was, he beat them. He beat them bad.

Yukine had never seen someone fight like that; so desperate and frenzied, as if he were fighting for his own life and not someone else's. It was... _breathtaking_.

Eventually, the two men ran off, and the boy cast one fierce look back at Yukine, wiping the blood from a cut on his cheek. He was gone just as quickly as he had appeared, disappearing without a word.

Later, Yukine would think he'd dreamed him up, but the dark blue bruises around his neck that he had to hide from his mother and the newly-developed anxiety made that pretty hard to believe.

His angry eyes haunted Yukine's dreams for years afterward. He could never forget him, even though he knew nothing about him. He just couldn't shake the feeling of debt in his chest, like he owed him... _something_. He'd saved his life, after all.

Or maybe the feeling wasn't debt, but admiration. He was strong and beautiful while Yukine definitely wasn't.

Eventually, he'd given up on him and told himself he would never meet him again. After all, at that time, he'd lived in an entirely different part of Japan and moved around so much, it was hard to remember himself, let alone some mysterious heroine from early childhood.

If he hadn't given up on him, Yukine wouldn't have been so surprised to be staring straight at him.

* * *

For a moment, he felt like the floor was tilting under him.

By the time he realized it wasn't actually moving, several seconds had passed, and he remembered that he should've been moving to take his seat. He did so with shaking legs and a lump in his throat, unable to keep his eyes off the boy. He wasn't looking up anymore, focused on the pencil he was twirling between his fingers with an air of indifference.

Yukine had to admit, the resemblance was uncanny. Even though he'd only seen his savior for a few seconds, the picture of his glowing eyes was burned into his mind like a glaring afterimage.

The boy's eyes were the same icy blue as back then. But that couldn't be right. That was so long ago, there was no possible way he could correctly remember someone he'd only seen for a moment… right?

Yukine forced himself to turn back to the front, placing his bag on the floor and removing a notebook and pencil. His movements still felt wooden, so he forced his muscles to relax, giving himself a harsh internal scolding. _It's not him, so get a grip, Yukine! This is your second chance: Don't start acting weird now!_

"Kaji-kun, right?" a voice asked, startling Yukine so much he nearly stabbed himself with the pencil. A girl was sitting ahead of him and had turned around, now smiling warmly, like they were old friends. She was pretty, with friendly magenta eyes and dark brown hair.

Yukine decided she looked like a good first-friend candidate and tried his best to smile invitingly. "Yes, I'm Kaji Yukine. But you can… call me Yukine, if you want to."

She laughed; a sound equally as pretty as her face. "Nice to meet you, Yukine! I'm Iki Hiyori, but you can call me Hiyori." She winked in an easy-going, friendly way. "I can already tell we'll be good friends. In fact, how about I show you around the school during lunch? It's the least I could do for a new student."

"R-really?" Yukine was slightly shocked. He really hadn't expected to make a friend that quickly, let alone so easily. He could feel himself smiling back. "Thank you so much… Hiyori! I'd love a tour."

 _Maybe pretending to be cheerful won't be so hard, after all. She seems like a really nice person. This year is already off to a great start._

* * *

When lunch came, Yukine felt significantly better, despite the mishap with the blue-eyed boy that morning. Hiyori really went out of her way to show him around, giving a detailed yet helpful tour of the entire school, ending in the lunchroom. She invited him to eat with her and her friends, but he decided to take his food outside for some much-needed alone time.

Being cheerful and outgoing was much harder than he'd thought it would be, even if Hiyori was super nice. Yukine felt like he was a battery that had been drained: He really just wanted to take a nap. And he would've... if he wasn't starving.

His mother had packed a bento that morning, just as she'd done every morning since he first began school. That day it was curry rice and onigiri; one of Yukine's favorites. She must've made it to cheer him up since she knew he got nervous on first days.

He felt so horrible for constantly making her uproot her life for him, just because he couldn't seem to fit in. That was partly why he'd made a promise to fit in at his new school: so his mom could finally settle down.

Luckily, things were going well thus far. A few people even smiled and waved at him as they passed by. Yukine returned each gesture, feeling his mood improve as he took a bite of curry rice.

The school really did seem like a good chance at a fresh start…

"Oi, you. New kid."

Yukine felt his heart skip a beat as he looked up, nearly dropping his chopsticks when he came face-to-face with the blue-eyed boy from before. He was standing directly in front of him, scowling with his arms crossed in clear annoyance.

Yukine flinched, even though he knew he hadn't done anything to aggravate him. _It's fine. Be cool, Yukine, be cool._ "That's m-me. Um… who are you?"

His scowl deepened and as he shifted, strands of black hair fell in front of his eyes. His hair was long for a guy, nearing shoulder-length. _Pretty._

"Yato. Kamiya. Call me whichever you want." His icy eyes narrowed as he shifted closer. Yukine had to bury his hands in his lap to keep them from shaking. "Your name's... Yuki something, isn't it?"

His head bobbed up and down uselessly. "Uh, y-yeah... Yukine." Yukine studiously avoided eye contact with him. His heart felt like it might break his ribcage open in a few seconds. "Nice to... m-meet you, Kamiya-kun."

"Hmm… I change my mind." Yato smirked and knelt next to him, sending a spike of coiled nerves down Yukine's spine as their forearms brushed. "Call me Yato, instead."

Yukine gulped. _God, I'm in way over my head here..._ "Okay then, Y-Yato-ku—"

"Ah," he held up a hand and Yukine nearly smacked his head against the tree.

 _Why am I so jumpy? This is bad. Bad, bad, bad._ He was totally losing it.

"No honorific," Yato continued in a drawl. "Just Yato." The way he was staring at Yukine was unsettling, and Yukine kept his gaze on his lunch fixedly, feeling a bead of sweat drop down his neck.

 _Stop staring._ "Did you want something, then... Yato?"

He rested his hand on his crooked knee, the edge of his mouth twisting into a smirk. "I just wanted to say 'hi,' Yuki-chan."

Yukine flinched at the nickname and turned to stare at him with trepidation, though he quickly gave up when Yato's intense gaze broke right through his composure. "Um, thanks...?"

Things were getting awkward quickly. Yukine did the honorable thing and decided to chicken out early, beginning to pack up his stuff, feeling Yato's eyes on him all the while. "Lunch is going to end soon. I should probably... go."

"Not with this, you're not." Before Yukine could even think, Yato snatched the bento from his hands and tucked it under his arm.

The smile he wore was that of a hunter stalking its prey, and Yukine was way too scared to say anything about his lunch being stolen. However, he managed to stammer out a simple question: "W-what are you doing?"

Yato walked past him, shooting a wink over his shoulder. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, new kid. Until then, I'll keep this." With that not-answer, he skipped off—literally—with Yukine's lunch under his arm.

 _Maybe I spoke too soon when I said this would be a good year..._


	2. Yato - 2

**02**

 **Yato**

* * *

Of course, Yato recognized him right away. It was hard to forget the face of someone whose life he basically saved.

It was astounding, though: He somehow hadn't changed at all in the seven years since Yato had first seen him. The same tarnished amber eyes glanced sidelong at him from a thin, sharp face; the same wiry body sat poised in the desk chair, somehow graceful despite the dull classroom atmosphere, and the same pale skin shone in the evening sun.

 _Damn_ , he really was stunning.

The image of his face had become blurred after so long, but there it was again, sitting not two rows away. Yato almost wanted to laugh.

They were in the middle of a lesson, but Yato ignored the teacher in favor of watching Yukine. He was bent forward in his chair, leaning over, elbows on the desk, to talk to Iki in front of him. His lips were turned up at the corners in a smile, but his eyes were the same anguished orbs Yato remembered from so long ago. As Iki said something to him, he had to cover his mouth to keep a laugh from breaking through, and that time, the grin almost reached his eyes.

How fascinating it was to watch him. Much more interesting than—Yato glanced at the board—the Boshin War. Honestly, his already-suffering grades would probably drop dead if irritatingly gorgeous Yukine stuck around much longer. Not that he would ever complain, of course.

 _Yukine_. 'The sound of the snow.' It just rolled right off the tongue like honey. Yato's own name was much duller, and not nearly as fun to say.

He could still picture Yukine's perfect expression as his lips had formed it, though. Did he even remember him? They'd never exchanged names that day, but he'd recognized him the second their eyes met. The eyes were the windows to the soul, after all.

"Kamiya, if you don't plan on paying attention, I'd be happy to extend the lesson for you in _detention_." When Yato turned my attention to the front of the room, Sensei was glaring at him, a history book in his left hand and a look of irritation twisting his already pinched features.

They had a long-term disagreement, Sensei and him. _He_ wanted him to pay attention: _Yato_ didn't give a shit. This stalemate often resulted in extended periods of time after classes wherein he was forced to clap erasers or stack chairs. Yato didn't really care, though. As if he could learn anything from that geezer, anyway.

"Sorry, Sensei, but my schedule's already booked. Would next week work?"

He looked about ready to strangle him, which was Yato's cue to dial it down. He really wasn't in the mood to mess around with him: Not when someone so new and interesting had only just arrived.

"Alright, alright; sorry. Please, by all means, continue the lesson. I'm rearing to learn about the Bornin—"

"Boshin."

"— _Boshin_ War. Please, o' wise Sensei, lecture away." Yato smiled at him sweetly. Somehow, he doubted he bought it, but he apparently wasn't in the mood to play around, either. He turned back to his lesson with a slight grumble and a wary glance, but nothing else, and Yato was in the clear once again. Shame on him for trusting a single word that came out of his mouth. He really should've learned better by then.

Yukine was staring at him from across the classroom, though he quickly looked away and pretended like he was busy taking notes as soon as Yato glanced over. _Cute._ He couldn't help but smirk a little at his flushed face—and he wasn't about to waste a golden opportunity like that.

Pulling out a rarely-used notebook from the depths of my bag, he scribbled something on it before ripping the page clean and crumpling it up to toss at him. It hit Yukine square in the side of the face, falling to his desk as he whipped around to glare at him.

Yato gave a little half-wave and winked at him, mouthing, _Open it_.

He seemed extremely hesitant, as if the paper would bite him or something, but reached for the ball anyway. As his slim fingers pulled it apart and his eyes quickly skimmed the words, his face blossomed into a pleasant shade of vermilion and he shot a mortified glance Yato's way. _Reaction number one: wide eyes, deep flush, twitching lower lip. I should really start a catalog of these._

As he watched, Yukine—still utterly discomposed—grabbed a pen and angrily scratched out a response before unsuccessfully chucking the note back. It landed on Bishamon's desk and she passed it over with a disgusted look, as if _barely_ brushing against something Yato had made contact with would give her a horrible, contagious deadly disease. _Yeah, well, sentiments shared, blondie._

Plucking the note from the desk, he unrolled it and snickered reading his hastily scrawled response.

 _how would u like 2 learn about something more exciting than history? like human anatomy? ;) - y_

 ** _Don't throw notes to me in class. And I'm not sure what you mean. - Yuki_**

 _Awww, he signed his note with the little nickname I gave him! Really, too cute._

Yato bent over and etched a response before throwing it back to him with gusto. This time, he managed to avoid being hit and glared at him more intensely as he opened it, as if that would somehow help drive Yato away. _Ha, you wish, snowflake. This is the most fun I've had all week._

 _i mean u and me, a little horizontal tilt-a-whirl, if u know what i mean_ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) _\- y_

His adorable and clueless response: **_Shut up and stop passing notes. I don't want to get in trouble on my first day. Shouldn't you be taking notes or something?_**

 _i'd love to take notes with u alllll. night. long. and u know what else is long ;))) - y_

Their quaint little conversation continued with similar back-and-forth comments.

 ** _I honestly don't know what you mean. Seriously stop passing notes. - Yuki_**

 _cmon snowflake, this is way more fun than class. i want 2 get 2 know u better ;) - y_

 ** _Please stop doing the... weird wink thing. I'll tell Sensei if you keep this up. - Yuki_**

 _just wait, pretty soon u'll b alllll over me. happens to every1 eventually - y_

After that, he didn't write back, but Yato watched in satisfaction as Yukine slid the note between the pages of his binder with a petulant glare in his direction. The game had definitely begun.

* * *

As soon as the bell rang after class, Yato scoped out Yukine and followed him to his locker, leaning an elbow against it and caging him in. "So, Yuki-chan, what do you say to my proposal? I still didn't get your answer."

His face flamed brilliantly as he pulled books from his locker, studiously refusing to meet his eyes. "I have... no comment. I'd really like it if you left me alone."

"Awww, that's absolutely no way to talk to someone who has your lunch hostage!" Yato winked. "Besides, the frown ruins your cute face, snowflake."

This nickname seemed to rattle him much more than the other one, and he turned away in an effort to hide his embarrassment, though his blush shone clear as day on his slender neck.

Yato wished he didn't hide so much skin underneath that dreaded baggy sweater he'd added over his uniform. What could a guy take away from that? He looked like he should've been going door-to-door selling bibles or magazine subscriptions.

"Please don't say things like that." His voice lowered and took on a squeaky tone when he was flustered. More interesting and useful information. Now all Yato had to fix was the sweater—and the attitude.

"Don't be like that, Yuki-chan." He followed him persistently as he headed towards the exit with his bag over his shoulder. "I'm just being _friendly_! Besides, maybe you could help me out with something."

 _Oops._ He was only trying to get him to stay. He didn't actually have anything he needed help with—well, at least nothing _decent_.

Still, Yukine paused—though he seemed very hesitant and maybe a little scared—to look back at him. "And... what would that be?"

"Um..." _Shit; think quick!_ "Studying! I have absolutely _terrible_ grades, just appalling, and I heard from Sensei that you're a pretty good student."

That was a lie—he didn't make a habit of talking to Sensei, _ever_ —but he had to say _something_ to get his attention. "So can you maybe help me out? I'll do something for you in return."

"What, like return my lunch?" Yukine responded dryly, pausing by the school's gates with an irritated look.

 _Or buy you clothes that don't look like you came from a nunnery_. "Sure, sure; anything you want."

They stood there, Yukine staring up at him studiously and Yato smiling (hopefully) innocently. It was _so_ very hard to pretend like he didn't just want to jump him right on the spot and rip that stupid sweater into pieces with his teeth—but that was a thought psychopaths or cannibals had, and he was fortunately (probably) neither.

But apparently his veil of purity held up okay, because Yukine nodded after another second of hesitation and hefted his bag higher on his shoulder with a defensive shrug. "Fine. I'll help you study twice a week, but _only_ at school or at my house. Understood?"

"Aye-aye captain!" Yato agreed giddily. A free invitation into snowflake's house? God, that boy had no clue what he was doing to him. "When can we start?"

He moved down the block towards a street crossing and Yato followed, not particularly caring how far out of his way they went as long as he secured an answer.

Yukine debated the question for a minute before answering carefully, lips pursing in an absolutely _maddening_ way that had Yato biting my lip to keep from shivering. "Tomorrow, I guess. But I'm not well caught up on the material at this school, so I'm not sure how much help I'll be. You might just be better off without me for—"

"No, no," he interrupted hastily, "I'm sure you'll understand it all! Most schools use the same curriculum, anyway."

"Mmm... I guess." He seemed to like those words. "Then just come home with me after school tomorrow, and make sure you bring the textbooks for the subjects you need the most help in. I don't want to lend you mine since I just got them. And my parents won't be home so we'll be on our own."

He paused. "Yato, are you even listening to me?"

"Huh? Oh, uh... yes?" _No_. He'd been watching his lips. _Mesmerizing_. "You said your parents won't be home?" That was the only sentence he'd picked up. It was the only one that mattered, anyway.

Snowflake nodded. "Yes. And make _sure_ you bring my lunchbox." He carefully pronounced each word and punctuated the statement with a sharp glare as they reached the crosswalk and he pressed the pedestrian button. "And _don't_ pass me notes during class again. Otherwise, I won't help you."

You got it, snowflake. Any other conditions?"

"Yes. _Don't_ call me snowflake."

* * *

Later that night, Yato sat on the balcony of his one-room apartment and stared out at the city.

His legs dangled precariously over the edge, but he wasn't afraid of falling. Heights had never been an issue for him. As he looked out over the houses and shops far below, the only thing he was worried about was where Yukine lived. He'd left him at the crosswalk, so he guessed he'd have to wait to find out until tomorrow.

Oh well. At least he had the house to himself all night. Well, _every_ night, technically. He'd moved out of his parents' house when he was fourteen, earning enough money to support himself and rent out a cheap apartment by doing whatever odd jobs he could get his hands on.

It was a lonely and hard-working life, sure, but Yato wasn't really the type of guy to be sentimental—and his dirtbag parents fit (just barely) into that category.

Still, it would've been nice to have someone to just _talk to_ or to gaze out at the cityscape with on nights like this. To feel warmth beside him and to hold someone's hand.

He didn't even have _pets_ to hang out with. It was just him, all the time: Yato Kamiya vs. the world. Looking at his life as a whole, all he had was a shitty past, a boring present, and a doubtful future: three pieces of furniture, the clothes on his back, and two instant-ramen cups to his name. A singular unit in a singular household.

But… maybe that would all change soon.


	3. Yukine - 3

**03**

 **Yukine**

* * *

Lying in bed that night reading a textbook, the only thing Yukine could think of was stupid Yato Kamiya.

Honestly, for a second earlier that day, he'd feared he would be the inevitable new bully in a long chain, but now he wasn't so sure. He was snarky, inappropriate, and a total idiot, but he didn't seem particularly _threatening_.

Maybe his social skills were just appalling—like, apparently, his grades. Yukine really hadn't expected him to out-of-the-blue ask to be tutored, especially considering he'd only just arrived _that day_ —and seriously, who asked a person they _just met_ to help them study?

Whatever his deal was, Yukine's curiosity was definitely peaked, especially considering Yato looked like the mystery boy from so long ago...

Maybe he could ask him about it sometime. If he really was the same person, Yukine probably should've thanked him for saving him. And if he wasn't, no big deal, right? It couldn't hurt to ask.

Sighing, Yukine closed my textbook and threw it on his desk chair in defeat. He just couldn't seem to focus. Besides, he had plenty of time for homework tomorrow.

 _Tomorrow…_

He flopped on my stomach and stared up at the ceiling with a slight frown. In truth, it was a little scary inviting a stranger over to his house. Not that he thought Yato would _do_ anything, but he'd never been this sociable to _anyone_. Of course, he guessed that was how he was _supposed_ to be at this new school—fresh start and all that.

Yukine still had absolutely no idea who Yato was as a person. They'd barely had a full conversation yet, although his notes during class hadn't exactly given the greatest first impression of his character. Yukine supposed he'd learn more the next day, during their study session. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too awkward—though he had a slight problem keeping his eyes off him.

No: It would all be fine. He just had to keep telling himself that. Even if Yato turned out to be a jerk, he still had his new friend, Hiyori, and a promising fresh start to look forward to.

* * *

The next morning was cloudy and gray with rain encroaching from the south, a cold gust slicing through Yukine's sweater as he ducked into the classroom. It would probably rain later in the day, though hopefully, it would end before school got out. He didn't want to have to walk home in a downpour.

"Enjoying the view, Yuki-chan?" a voice chimed from behind him, scaring him so much that he nearly tripped and face-planted on Hiyori's desk.

Yato's smug grin greeted him as he spun around and smacked him on the arm with a glare. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

He snickered and leaned his elbows against Yukine's desk, allowing a generous view of the toned arms underneath his shirt. The navy suit jacket was absent, as well as the tie. Clearly, he didn't like following the rules—or, apparently, the uniform code.

"Aw, don't be like that, snowflake! I just wanted to say good morning."

Sure, like he bought _that_. "I told you not to call me snowflake. And quit leaning on my desk." He smacked his arm off with a book from his bag and Yato shot him a pouty look unbefitting of a high-schooler.

"So _mean_." He stuck his tongue out childishly and took a seat on the surface of the desk across from his instead—probably to avoid another book smacking. "Did _somebody_ wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" He leaned forward with a sly smile. "Maybe you should come sleep with me inste— _Oof_!"

Hiyori calmly smacked him in the face with her bag as she passed, taking her seat with a falsely cheerful smile. "Perverts aren't supposed to be out so early in the morning," she chirped pseudo-sweetly. "Go back to your own row, Crapiya-kun."

"Dammit, Iki, that hurt!" Yato rubbed his cheek defensively but miraculously retreated back to his own seat without a comment about the 'Crapiya-kun' insult.

Surprised, Yukine turned to Hiyori with a grateful sigh. "Thanks. That idiot won't stop bothering me."

She smiled, a genuine one this time. "Yeah, no problem. That jerk's been my classmate for pretty much our whole lives." She shook her head with an irritated growl. "I still hate his stupid guts for cutting off my pigtail in elementary school."

"He really did that?" Yukine raised an eyebrow. "Did he get in trouble?"

"I beat his jerkhead face in, if that's what you mean," she responded with a huff, taking out her supplies and arranging them neatly on her desk. "He didn't mess with me much after that. If he keeps giving you trouble, just let me know."

"Thanks."

Yukine wanted to talk more, but just then, their Sensei walked in with a coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other, barking at everyone to sit down. Silence fell and the class rep stood to take attendance while Yukine snuck a glance at Yato—right in time to be smacked in the face by a balled-up paper.

 _let me know anytime if u wanna skip off 2 the bathroom cutie ;) - y_

He rested his head on the desk with a groan. _Lord, please give me the strength to get through today… so I can strangle this idiot after school._

* * *

As he'd predicted, the rain started around noon, and it didn't stop.

By the time school was over and Yukine stopped by his locker to gather his stuff, the sky was an angry black and rain poured from the sky like the world was ending. Thunder boomed so loud, it made his teeth rattle.

He really wished he didn't also have to deal with Yato, but unfortunately, he hadn't forgotten their deal. As Yukine closed my locker, he slung a heavy arm around his shoulder, a familiar lunchbox invading his line of sight. "Brought the promised goods, angel. You ready?"

With great determination, Yukine chose to ignore the new nickname. "We have to hurry. It's raining and I don't have an umbrella."

"I'd be your umbrella anytime."

"That literally doesn't even make sense."

* * *

They arrived at his house ten minutes later, shivering and dripping rain from every pore. It had turned Noah's Ark outside, so dark it almost looked like the middle of the night, the only light provided by the stark flashes of angry lightning.

Yukine kicked off his shoes at the door and instructed Yato to do the same, peeling off his wet socks with a grimace. Removing his school jacket was like tearing off a second layer of skin, and the sweater underneath was so wet, it had to have weighed at least five extra pounds. Yukine had no choice but to strip that off, too, leaving only the soaked white shirt and blue uniform pants remaining.

They'd both probably need to change, although Yato was so much taller and broader than Yukine, he doubted anything he had would fit him.

Speaking of Yato, he was struggling to squeeze the water out of his shirt, but it was doing little to no good. His shoes and socks lay beside Yukine's, leaking twin puddles of water onto the wood floor. They really needed to change or they'd probably end up with pneumonia.

"F-follow me," Yukine told him, teeth chattering as he padded through the house and towards the stairs. "We should c-c-change c-clothes. I can p-probably find something f-for you in my d-dad's closet."

They went upstairs and Yukine pointed out his room to Yato, waiting till he'd found it to slide open his parents' closet door and rummage around in his dad's clothes. After several minutes, all he could find was an old Tokyo sweatshirt and some ratty jogging pants, but it was better than nothing.

When he got back to his own room, he found Yato standing in front of his bookshelf, holding a copy of _Kafka on the Shore_.

"You like that book?" Yukine asked incredulously, startling him as he entered with the folded clothes.

"Oh, um, yeah. It's good." He put it back down and turned to him with a small smile. "Those for me?"

"Yep." He took them and Yukine pointed across the hallway. "Bathroom's over there on the left."

"Thanks." For once, Yato didn't make an inappropriate or sarcastic comment, and Yukine was pleasantly surprised watching him duck around the corner and out of sight.

Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all. This day was going better than he'd anticipated… Though there were still plenty of hours left in the day.

Sighing, Yukine opened up a drawer and pulled out a baggy blue sweater and some jeans, changing into them quickly. It felt great to get out of those cold, wet clothes, although his hair was still dripping.

He tried to squeeze some water out of it with an old T-shirt, but that just made it stick up all over the place, so eventually he just gave up.

* * *

By the time Yato got back, he'd emptied both their bags, set them out to dry on the desk, and put up a table for them to use. All the textbooks were a little damp, but no serious damage had been done, luckily. Though now he wasn't quite sure how to start... _this_.

Yato, fortunately, did. He flopped down on the floor, pulling at one of the tassels on his borrowed sweatshirt, which fit him surprisingly well. "So, what subject do we start with, Yukine?"

Hearing Yato say his full name filled Yukine with a sense of satisfaction, for some odd reason, and he tried to hide it as he dropped down beside him. "I'd say… math. That tends to be most people's worst subject. After that, we can do English and History."

Yato flashed a joking smile. "Teach away, Master Yukine."

By the time they'd finished, the rain had let up a little, but the sun had long since set.

As Yato had guessed, the curriculum was pretty close to his last school's, and Yukine picked up the subjects easily. _Him_ , on the other hand… Not so much.

Yukine sat up and stretched while Yato packed away his books with a miserable sigh. "So much _learning_ … I don't think my brain's worked this hard since high school entrance exams."

"Well, you're not really _that_ terrible," Yukine told him with a light laugh. "I've seen people much worse than you before, trust me."

"So, I'm your most promising pupil?" he teased, zipping his bag with a cheeky grin. "You're definitely a good teacher."

"Thanks, but I don't do this very often… Nobody's ever asked me to before."

He looked up in surprise. "Really? Then you're even better than I thought!"

They shared a laugh, and for the first time since meeting him, Yato actually seemed like a pretty cool guy.

But, of course, as soon as Yukine thought that, he had to go and open his mouth again. "So, should I give these back to you tomorrow or strip right now?" He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Or _maybe_ I could leave them on your bedroom floor toni—"

"Let me stop you right there," Yukine interrupted hastily, grabbing his arm and towing him toward the door. _This idiot…_ "Just wash them and bring them tomorrow. And about our next session, what time works for you?"

He was trying his best to sound professional, but really he was just struggling not to blush.

"Hmmm." Yato paused at the doorway and started pulling on his shoes. "How about... tomorrow?"

Yukine rolled my eyes. "Two days in a row? That would be pointless. We won't learn anything new _tomorrow_."

"You never know." He winked, finishing tying his left shoe, and reached for the doorknob. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow, snowflake. Can't wait."

Before Yukine could protest against the stupid nickname again, Yato ducked out into the rain with a wave, disappearing into the foggy darkness.

Rolling his eyes, Yukine leaned against the window pane and watched him go with an amused snort.

That guy really was something else. He must've taken _classes_ on how to be irritating.

Still, Yukine found himself smiling as he turned around and headed back upstairs. Even though he knew deep down that Yato Kamiya would be nothing but trouble, he had the feeling his heart had already decided for him that he wouldn't be keeping his distance.

But he _definitely_ needed to work on improving his attitude. If he called him snowflake one more time, Yukine would wipe that stupid smirk off his face with a well-placed roundhouse kick.

Alright… so maybe _his_ attitude needed some work, too.

* * *

Back upstairs, as Yukine started picking up his books, he noticed a note scrawled in the margins of one of them.

"Oh no… What did he write _this time_?" With an exasperated sigh, Yukine dropped the notebook he'd been about to put away and picked up the textbook to take a closer look.

There was a number written in scratchy handwriting—080-0919-8100—accompanied by a short note: _call me anytime, snowflake ;) - y._

Yukine scoffed at the nickname, but couldn't help but chuckle a little. Even if he was an annoying bastard, Yato Kamiya—although he was technically still a stranger—had a way of making him smile.

Yukine had the most terrible feeling he was going to fall in love with him.


End file.
